Patterns of psychotropic medication prescriptions by psychiatrists for private clinic outpatients in Kerman Province, Iran

الملخص EN

-Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the pattern and utilisation of psychotropic drug prescriptions by psychiatrists in Kerman Province, Iran.

Methods: The prescriptions of 27 psychiatrists were randomly selected from two Iranian public insurance organisations and were analysed for the mean number of drugs/prescriptions, drug category and the most frequently prescribed drug in each category as well as overall.

Results: A total of 6,414 prescriptions were analysed.

The mean number of drugs per prescription was 2.9.

Antidepressants (61.0%) were the most frequently prescribed category of psychotropic medications, followed by antipsychotics (29.5%), sedative/hypnotics or anti-anxiety drugs (27.5%) and mood stabilisers (18.5%).

The combination of antidepressants with antipsychotics was the most commonly prescribed combination (18.8%).

Fluoxetine (16.5%) and trifluoperazine (13.5%) were among the most frequently prescribed antidepressants and antipsychotics, respectively.

Clonazepam (10.5%) was the most commonly prescribed benzodiazepine agent, followed by alprazolam (8.5%).

In terms of total drug utilisation, sertraline (12.4%) was the most commonly used psychotropic medication followed by fluoxetine (9.7%), trifluoperazine (6.6%), propranolol (4.5%) and clonazepam (3.7%).

Conclusion: A high proportion of psychotropic prescriptions in Kerman Province were for antidepressants, followed by antipsychotics and the benzodiazepines.

Further research is needed to determine the underlying correlation between prescription practice and